KIRKUS REVIEW

A man looks back at his past after
finding out he has about a year left to live in this novel.

When Lassiter “Last” Chance Barkley
is diagnosed with cancer, his thoughts turn immediately to those who might be most
affected by the news, and all of the tragedies that he and his girlfriend,
Mandy, suffered through in the six years they’d been together. They’d lost friends
and family members; some went quickly and others lingered painfully. Barkley is
determined to figure out how to make his own last year as painless as he can
and to prepare Mandy and his family, including his daughter and stepdaughter from
a previous relationship, for life without him. He wants Mandy to be independent
and set up an antique shop to support herself, somewhere out of the reach of
her prying mother. To that end, Barkley buys a camper and they set out on a
road trip, landing in North Carolina at the shop and estate of Greta Ann Foy, who
served as a psychic in the Army. Greta
tells them that she’d been waiting for them, and it seems like destiny as
Barkley and Mandy buy Greta’s place and gather their family around them in an
ideal, ocean-side setting where they can be together until Barkley passes.
After a dark start, when it’s uncertain how Barkley will handle the news of his
diagnosis, the book brightens up considerably. The focus of the novel moves
from death to life as Greta orchestrates Barkley and Mandy’s wedding and the
children move into the house. Everything works out to near-perfection and the
family plants roots that will last after Barkley is gone. It may end a little
too pleasantly for some readers, in fact, as most every possible conflict melts
away once Greta is in the picture. The descriptions of the family holidays are
warm and cozy, spiced up a little bit by the eccentric locals, but are otherwise
fairly typical. The characters grow to be successful but the story rarely
delves too far under the surface to show their inner workings. Overall, the
book is remarkably drama-free and much lighter than one might expect.

An apple-spiced, feel-good story
that’s more about life than about death.

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